FAIRFAX, Va. – The George Mason baseball team lost the final game of the regular season to Fordham, 5-2, on Saturday afternoon at Spuhler Field. The Patriots finished the regular season with a 36-19 record and a 20-10 Atlantic 10 record.

The Patriots end the regular season finishing in second in the A-10 standings behind Rhode Island, who claimed the regular season title with yesterday's win over Saint Joseph's

THE LEADOFF

• Junior shortstop Owen Clyne led the Patriot offense in hits, going 2-for-5. Five other Patriots recorded a hit on the day.
• Junior designated hitter Drew Canody started the scoring for the Patriots in the second inning after laying down an infield bunt single and forced an errant Ram throw that scored Nick Barenz to tie the game.
• Freshman left fielder Lucas Alberti recorded the team's only RBI in the seventh inning with a single.
• The Patriots are now 20-5 at home and 20-10 in Atlantic 10 play.

Before the start of the final game, the team recognized the eight seniors on Senior Day. Director of Analytics, Abby Finch, senior Britt Yount, and graduate students Nick Barenz, Daniel Elliott, Sam Lavin, Gardner Meeks, Connor O'Hara and Jonny Wall were recognized for their contributions to the Patriot baseball program.

George Mason (36-19, 20-10 A-10) gave up the first run of the game to Fordham (25-31, 15-15 A-10) in the first inning for the second straight game. With Fordham's Bucciero on first, who was running on the pitch by starter Logan Rumberg, Kanellis hit a bloop single that landed in shallow right field. Since the ball was hanging in the air long enough before landing, the speedy Bucciero was able to round third and score.

The Ram lead would not last for long. After graduate student Nick Barenz hit a double to left, designated hitter Drew Canody started the scoring for the Patriots in the second inning after laying down an infield bunt single and forced an errant Ram throw that scored Nick to tie the game.

Fordham retook the lead in the top of the fourth. With runners on first and second with two out, Kirk got under a pitch that shot straight up into the sky, where the wind took hold of the ball and twisted above the infield. The Patriot defense could not successfully get to the ball in time and the ball landed in between the pitcher's mound and third, base.

By the time the defense picked up the ball, Kirk picked up an RBI double and took a 2-1 Ram lead.

Fordham doubled their score in the top of the seventh with a Dieguez RBI double to right center, emptying the bases. The Patriots could only get one run back in the bottom of the inning with a Lucas Alberti RBI single, scoring James Quinn-Irons.

Fordham scored the final run of the game in the top of the ninth with another Dieguez RBI single, scoring Kirk. Kirk's run was unearned, as he led off the inning getting on base by Patriot fielding error.

The Patriots will now prepare for the Atlantic 10 Tournament next week. The tournament will be held at Capital One Park at Tyson's Va.